S.A. military hospitals completing transition

Published 1:01 am, Thursday, September 8, 2011

The integration of Brooke Army and Wilford Hall medical centers will be completed in a week, and units have begun to move into BAMC's new 760,000-square-foot consolidated tower.

This initiative, directed by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure law, marks a new era in military medicine and history.

“This integration will bring talented staff from both units and each others' best practices to create an integrated health system that is the envy of military and civilian healthcare organizations across the nation,” said Maj. Gen. M. Ted Wong, commanding general of BAMC and the Southern Regional Medical Command. “Almost 2,000 Air Force personnel are moving to BAMC and we welcome them all.”

“Patients are our top priority and the reason for our existence and purpose. Our mission is to provide quality care with compassion, respect and skill, and to maintain our patients' trust and confidence,” said Wong. “To all staff and our patients, thank you for being tolerant and understanding over the past 18 months, as we worked to build the best military medical center possible.”

The WHASC will be the DOD's largest ambulatory surgical center under the command of the 59th Medical Wing. The 59th MDW will also provide governance to all other Air Force medical facilities in San Antonio such as the Randolph, Kelly, Reid and North Central federal clinics.

“The 59th Medical wing is dedicated to high quality, patient-centered care with a clear focus on safety and customer service,” said Maj. Gen. Byron Hepburn, 59th MDW commander. “We are also committed to providing first-rate graduate medical education and training, state of-the-art research and capable teams for our global readiness mission.”

BAMC and the 59th MDW will fall under the San Antonio Military Health System, or SAMHS, a new oversight organization that will have rotating Air Force and Army general officers as director and deputy director. Hepburn will be the first director and Wong will serve as the first deputy director.

The objectives of the SAMHS are to provide health improvement and healthcare services for the DOD beneficiary community, sustain the readiness skills of the medical force, support graduate medical education and other education and training, and support basic and clinical biomedical research.

“The collaboration and cost advantages we achieve in combining our efforts allow us to leverage our resources and expertise in a way that we were not able to before,” said Hepburn. “We are forming a broader team and going to a greater place of efficiency and effectiveness.”